


Beyond Walls and Lines

by Hyrulehalfbreed



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Dark, Dark, F/F, F/M, Kidnapping, M/M, Titan Eren Yeager, Titan Shifters, War, humans and titans are separate species, titan Armin, titan Jean, titan Mikasa, titan society
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-03-08 04:03:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3194654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyrulehalfbreed/pseuds/Hyrulehalfbreed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story takes elements from chapter 65 of the manga, if you are not up to date it will be confusing and hold spoilers. </p>
<p>In a world of walls, Levi is known as "Humanity's Strongest" and is the biggest hope that mankind has in defeating the titans and finally reclaiming the land that was loss for over a century. A few years after the fall of Wall Maria and with a handful of new recruits, the Survey Corps has hope for a bright future. However, after one unfortunate event Levi disappears leaving the rest of society to struggle to find the reason as military factions and nobles point fingers at each other. <br/>Levi on the other hand finds himself trapped in a world beyond the walls but just as hellish as he is in the hands of the titans, locked away in a cell and confused by the fact that these titans look surprisingly human. Can he put his hope for survival on a titan brat with odd colored eyes or will he suffer the same grisly fate as the rest of humanity?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It Begins

(This is a world where Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and a few others never joined the Survey Corps and the story starts with the attack on Trost never having taken place)

This shitty world of walls, where people live behind them like cattle and desperately scrounge around for work that could feed their family and themselves, while only a select few were living in the lap of luxury and relaxed inside of the inner most wall. Then there were the branches of the military that served to enforce the laws that governed their tiny world inside of the shadows of the walls and to fight against the creatures that hungered to devour mankind. The titans, the huge monsters that looked like humans except for their gross proportions, size, and lack of genitals. Fucking disgusting creatures that would eat anyone no matter their age, gender, or status, they were all only food for them. This made the feeling of being penned up like livestock all the more prominent to many.

Many of the civilians had never even seen a titan before the fall of Wall Maria only a few years ago, the first time a wall had been breached and what came along with it, the appearance of the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan. Then the two simply disappeared, but now everyone feared for when they would return again. Titans that had the ability to break down the walls that had protected mankind for over a hundred years, who wouldn’t have nightmares? There was also the repercussions of the loss of Wall Maria, hundreds of refugees flooded into inner walls, which created more resentment between the people, hunger, and an increase of poverty. The forced purge of people outside of the walls in a fake call for conquest, it was a sickening memory that haunted the minds of many of the military while the nobles continued to clink their champagne glasses together. Disgusting, wasteful, miserable, there were many definitions that one could come up with to describe the situation of mankind.

Those were the consequences of the past and now Levi found himself with more brats that usual on his hands as new recruits had recently graduated from training and many had, oddly enough, chosen to join the Survey Corps. Why someone would choose the branch that held the most danger, it was something he always wondered. Then again by joining them, these little shits had the opportunity to actually see the world outside the towering pieces of rock. The world outside... It wasn't too bad from his experience and he had been out there many times now. Since was the risk worth it to some snot nosed new comers? It was a pondering thought for him. After all, Levi known as the Lance Corporal and held the title of “Humanity’s Strongest” hadn’t joined the Corps out of his own will. However, that was neither here nor there, the past was painful and it only continued to get darker and more blood soaked, despite Erwin’s encouraging words.

While the commander held an important role in organizing the expeditions out of the walls and into the world beyond, Levi had been given a heavy burden as well. He had become the face of the Survey Corps and was known to be worth an entire brigade of soldiers. A single man, worth over five hundred others of the same ilk, he had become the hope to many of the people. 

Erwin used Levi’s reputation to help push the other branches of the military to offer their assistance to the Corps and while the three branches butted heads continuously, none of them could argue the number of people that the short raven had saved and the titans that he had killed. No one wanted to be on the wrong end of his blades. Levi was the hope for a world without titans, as ridiculous as that sounded to his own ears; he knew that he would continue to lay his life on the line until humans no longer needed these suffocating walls. He promised too many of the dying to ever go back on his word, the titans would be eliminated.

With Hanji’s help and research it might be possible, even if the idiot scientist and squad leader constantly put herself in unnecessary danger with her attempts to study and experiment on the titans they had managed to capture. Learning more about titans is the best way to stop them, that was what Erwin and Hanji both argued for. Levi mostly just followed their lead, they tell him where to hit and cut then he would do it.

It has already been two months since the graduation ceremony and Levi was still struggling to memorize most of the names and faces of their newest members. Usually he left that kind of thing up to Petra, but there were a few that caught his eye. There was the girl that liked to steal food from the kitchen and whom Gunter had caught several times now, and her shaved headed lackey. That darker skinned girl with freckles that seemed to always be scheming something to get those around her in trouble. There was another freckled kid that seemed to be almost too kind for his own good, but he was in the top ten of the graduating class and his skills could not be argued with. 

Then there were those other two that had been at the top of their class, however they decided to join the Corps as well. They were pretty forgettable, in fact there were only a few traits about them that made them stick out from the rest. One was an overly burly blond young man and his companion was a tall dark haired male that would probably rival Mike in height when he got older. As long as each of them pulled their weight and didn’t get themselves killed then Levi wouldn’t have a problem with any of the new recruits, but he didn’t have time to babysit. Other higher ranking members of the Corps were in charge of overseeing the young members’ activities and continued training for the upcoming expeditions.

Speaking of which, Levi inwardly groaned as he rolled his stiff shoulders which had grown tight during the meeting he had just left. Erwin, Hanji, and his squad members had all been present, but it was only a review of the same protocol that they always followed on a mission. However, from the pressure of the masses around them, they had decided that this run was also going to hold the purpose of gathering as many natural resources as possible to bring back to the walls and hopefully ease some of the strain that the people were feeling and erase some of the resentment that the people felt about supplying rations to the military branches.

Becoming a delivery service, the thought disgusted Levi causing him to shake his head as he continued down the darkened halls towards his room. He preferred being in the less populated wing of the headquarters and it was only higher ups and Erwin that shared the hallway with him, all of them knowing to be quiet and to not disrupt the Lance Corporal unless they wanted to meet his wrath.

This was why he didn’t pause when he saw the small figure standing in front of his door, even in the dim lighting that the stars and moon provided from the open windows of the hallway, Levi could tell the figure was female. Had Petra taken a shorter route to return to the wing and was waiting for him to discuss something? If she hadn’t been paying attention to the meeting because she was too busy fighting with Auruo there would be hell to pay. Both of them would be looking at a new list of chores to complete and under his supervision.

Seriously why didn’t she say something already, his footsteps were obviously heard but she seemed to be refusing to turn around. It was too late to deal with this shit, all he wanted to do was crawl into his bed and attempt to get a few hours of sleep before rising early and running drills. He opened his mouth, about to call out before something struck him hard in the back of the neck. His vision went spotted and it felt like the world was rushing up to meet him at a speed close to being jerked by the 3D maneuver gear.

Levi fell hard to the stone floor, vision swimming with darkness but he could still make out the boots that came into his field of vision and the dim hum of voices. A female one… which certainly wasn’t Petra, “You were slow.” 

A male voice, one that he had heard before answered, where had his attackers come from, he didn’t hear anything behind him. That had to mean, an ambush, the woman's teammates were hiding in the rafters that held up the roof. “Give me a break, we did it didn’t we? Com’ on we need to get him out of here and to the meeting spot, then return before we are missed.”

‘Traitors!?’ Levi’s slow thoughts were being sloshed about like someone abusing the laundry in a wooden tub to get out stubborn stains. But where were these people from? Who did they work for, was it another branch of the military or was it someone from the underground looking for revenge? For once Levi felt utterly powerless to make his muscles move. No, he had to listen to these bastards discuss his fate and be unable to fight back. Then another male voice, softer than the other came from behind him, “He’s not knocked out, if we’re going to get him over the walls we have to make sure we do it right.”

‘The walls?’ His heart thudded in his chest painfully as he felt a large hand cup the back of his head, lifting it slightly before his skull was slammed back into the stone, the world going black. The last thought rolling through his head was, ‘I’m being taken… beyond the walls?’


	2. Levi's Trial

The first thing that Levi was aware of was the horrid ache in his head, fuck what happened last night? He certainly didn’t think he had anything to drink, when even was the last time he did? Perhaps for Hanji’s promotion, there wasn’t any other occasion lately that really called for a celebration when they were constantly training and worrying about whether or not the walls would fall at any moment. Also Levi liked to be prepared for anything, being drunk and trying to control and use 3D maneuver gear was actually a rather common cause of death for members of the garrison if he recalled the latest report correctly. 

Still this wasn’t the time to be concerned about dead, unfortunate idiots. His eyes moved about the dim darkness, trying to figure out where exactly he was and what was happening. The first squirm brought about a disturbing realization; his arms were bound tightly together behind his back at the wrist by what felt like heavy chains. A twitch of his legs showed that his ankles were trussed up in the same manner. His throat felt horribly dry and the cloth gag in his mouth sucked up any saliva his body tried to produce to ease his suffering.

Fingers running along the wall behind him showed that Levi was trapped in what seemed to be a wooden crate, or more accurately going by the shape that barely allowed his body to move, lying on his side which thankfully didn’t put pressure on his chained hands; he was in a peasant grade coffin. If this was someone’s idea of a sick joke, he was going to skin them alive.

However, that thought was soon thrown out of the window as he realized the thumps ringing through his ears was not just the echo of his heart beat. No, he knew that sound, it was a sound associated with combat approaching, and with it feelings of fear, disgust, anger, and desperation. It was the sound of heavy, thundering footsteps. The calling card of titans, which announced their terrible approach on their human prey.

Then he noticed something else, there was a sway to the box he was trapped inside, forward, back, left, and right. The coffin was being carried and it wasn’t the usual bumpiness that came from being pulled inside of a cart, even those fancy carriages of nobles didn’t feel as smooth as this. Levi prided himself on his intellect, even if he was originally honed by street smarts in the underground, he progressed even further when he joined the Survey Corps, receiving different lessons in a variety of topics and skills that classified soldiers as being higher and more ‘civilized’ than the peasantry.

Still his mind rejected the most obvious answer until he focused again; being able to hear not just one thundering set of footsteps, but multiple, his guess was the he was currently surrounded by five titans. Levi’s prison… was being carried by one of the monstrous man-eaters. That didn’t make sense, he had seen many times before that titans would absolutely destroy sturdy stone buildings to get at the humans inside. Obviously they would be able to smell him, after all, there were cracks in wood that allowed him to breathe and have light sneak in. So why was he not being chewed up like a piece of candy with a crunchy wooden outside?

How did he even end up in this fucking box, why were there titans? It would mean that either titans had breached the walls once again or he was- The memories came rushing back, the traitors, the ambush, the conversation. They had carried him outside of the walls and then what? Just put him in a coffin and hoped that titans would come to finish the job? That didn’t sound right, if they wanted him dead, then why not take care of it while he was unconscious and unable to defend himself and ditch the murder weapon?

Musing over these facts were all Levi could do as he couldn’t move his body enough to try fighting his way out of the box and what good would it do him? Unarmed against a group of titans. It was better to wait and see what would happen next. Look for an opportunity to escape. How long had he been out, how far from the walls had they traveled? He felt like he was about to go mad because there was no way for him to get the answers he sought, what was he going to do, ask a titan? That would certainly go over well, ‘oh by the way, please don't eat me and turn me into shit’ An image of Hanji popped into his head with her reminder that ‘titans don’t defecate’.

‘Go away brain Hanji, you are no longer needed.’ He took a small breath before tensing as he realized that the titans had stopped and he could feel himself being lowered, coming to a rest on what he assumed to be the ground. Levi’s eyes darted about the box, searching for a crack wide enough for him to look through. However the sight that awaited him once he did made him freeze.

A couple meters away he could see a towering figure and then the hissing sound of steam rolled out, the figure was becoming smaller, the massive arms fell off with a meaty thumped before they disintegrated away. Bone turned to dust and flesh melting away. What was left was something even more terrifying to someone that had been slaying titans for years. A human shape, not only that but a human voice! Looking through cracks he was met with the same sight. Words were being said, but he couldn’t quite make them out as the figures came closer.

Then Levi’s coffin was lifted once more, carrying him to somewhere else and suddenly he was in darkness. The world had been lit by the afternoon sun just a moment ago, the most logical explanation he could come up with was that they had gone underground or into some other structure.

He wanted answers; desperately Levi wanted to make sense of this fucking mess. However he had a feeling that he would be getting all the information he could stomach far sooner than he imagined as he heard the creak of wooden doors and then there was an almost deafening rumble of murmurs. More people? But were they really people or was he in the lair of monsters? 

The coffin was set up on the end where Levi’s feet were, however being as bound, dehydrated, and exhausted as he was, he knew once that lid opened his muscles wouldn’t be able to support him right away from being trapped in that shitty, cramped up position for so long. The groaning protest of wood and metal rung in his ears and he found himself falling forward, still he managed to regain some semblance of dignity by landing on his knees on the rich velvet… rug? 

Confusion and shock gripped him as his grey blue eyes darted about the room, taking in every detail he could. Room didn’t do the place justice, no this was more like a chamber, smooth black granite walls and a peaked ceiling spiraled above him. All was illuminated by golden chandeliers and candle fixtures in the walls that showed off the woven silk tapestries resting next to them. Then he saw the figures standing along the walls, whispering, pointing, and gesturing at him like he was some exotic item on display, but at the same time something utterly disgusting. These figures, they were dressed like the nobles of the inner walls and they certainly looked normal, but there was a different air about them. Something that made him dig his teeth into the gag trapped in his mouth.

“So this is supposed to be “Humanity’s Strongest”?” The voice was mocking and loud, filling the entire chamber as all other voices went silent. Levi lifted his head to see that laid at the end of the blood red rug, a few stairs leading to a platform that held, he blinked as he took in the gaudy thrones that were looking down on him. The one in the center held the man that spoke, a dark haired older man with wide blue eyes and a fine mustache. To his left sat a smaller figure on a less grand throne, a small thin girl with long blond hair, the same eyes as her apparent parent, but they only looked down at Levi with hate.

“Lance Corporal Levi, slayer of so many titans.” The man trailed off as looked the short male up and down, “I’m… not really impressed, however why don’t we let the man speak for himself.” He made a small motion and one of the men behind Levi untied the gag knotted at the back of his head. As the ruined cloth fell to the floor, he was able to take his first unimpeded breath. For a few seconds he was focused on trying to let his aching jaw rest before licking his dry lips, this was his chance for answers, “Who the hell are you, you fucking pompous old man?”

The next second and Levi felt his head being slammed into the floor, as the man behind him snarled, “Don’t you fucking dare disrespect him, you are before Rod Reiss, king of the titans.” And just like that all of Levi’s fear had been confirmed, these people weren’t humans, they were monsters in sheep’s clothing. Still it made his stomach drop, what exactly were titans then?

Blood poured out of his nose as he was dragged back into a seated position by his hair, disgusting, how many times had that rug been walked on? Still he managed to look the ‘king’ straight in the eyes as he spoke, “You’re titans? You look like regular humans to me.”

The other sneered in response as he answered, “Do not compare us to your kind, we are a superior race of beings, your lot are only good as food. Do you realize it Levi? This is your trail to decide what should be done with the man that has killed so many of our brethren and been a thorn in our side for far too long.” Even as he spoke, Levi could see the change in the figures around them, all standing straighter, and muscles tight and ready to attack, pupils blown wide and nostrils flared at the scent of the human’s blood in the air. 

“So why drag all of this out? Obviously you’re going to kill me why not get it over with,” Levi eyes narrowed as he refused to look away from the king, inwardly he was, in fact, terrified. After all, no one wanted to die, at least no one that was sane. He should really be watching his mouth, what he was saying wasn’t earning him many ‘staying alive’ points from these monsters. He had seen humans crushed under feet and in hands, ripped apart, bitten in half, and chewed up alive, none of those options were an appealing way to die. But these guys looked rather human at the moment, did that mean that they would have a different sense of taste, flay him open and portion him out as steaks, boil or cook him alive? 

The chuckle Levi got as an answer was almost as unsettling as the silence, the leader leaning back in his throne while casual supporting his chin with a hand, “Don’t you think you are being a bit too cocky? You are the single greatest murderer of our kind in decades. So I believe you should be made to suffer before meeting your end. I believe we need more time to decide what kind of execution would be best for someone of your… grandeur.”

A set of hands fell on his shoulders, probably to drag him to whatever little hellhole they had prepared from him. However, Levi wasn’t about to go without a fight, leg snapping out to knock the titan off of his feet. He had no way of knowing how strong the bones of a titan were, but if he didn’t try, he didn’t learn. Forcing himself to his feet as quickly as possible, he decided to attempt to add another to his kill count. The chains connecting his ankles together were short, but still allowed him to lift his leg up and then bring his foot down as hard as possible on the back of the male’s neck, this was the weak point of them in their monstrous form, he hoped it would be the case in this one. He could feel the bones crunch and break under his boot, the titan giving a short cry of pain before it gurgled away into silence. 

It seemed like time had stopped, before the air erupted in cries of outrage and Levi was slammed into the ground again by multiple pairs of hands before he could attempt to escape. A roar rolled out from the throne, it was a titan’s roar something that haunted the dreams of every human at night. So they had some impressive lungs even in this form huh? The king looked enraged as he stared down at the human that had killed another of his men right under his nose. “Get him out of my sight, no food or water until I give the word. Who knows maybe a fitting death would be by slow starvation.”

Levi’s vision was swimming as he was dragged back to his feet, nose starting to bleed once again as he was forced to stumble forward in the grip of his captors. As he was turned towards the doors, a flash of bluish green caught his eye before being swept out of the noisy throne room. However, with the human’s vision as murky as it was from his head being almost cracked like an egg twice on the stone floor and his exhausted, aching body making his movements tortuously slow, it ended up with the two titans carrying him more than leading him through the dim twisting passageways.

Even if he didn’t know where he was and couldn’t see the outside, he knew that he was being dragged further down, deeper into the underground chambers of this place. The air around him was becoming more dank and cold, the chill cutting straight through his uniform and undershirt to make goose-bumps rise on his skin. Still it wasn’t the worst of conditions that he had lived in as he was pulled into a cell, not unlike the ones that were inside of the military compounds in the walls.

The titans did their work quickly, obviously wanting to wash their hands of the human and deal with the chaos that the throne room was still probably in. They secured their prisoner and finally Levi was able to fully clear his head by the time the clang of the iron barred door slammed shut and the clank and clunk sound of a key turning in the lock rang through the air. 

The shackles around his wrists remained tight, and a second chain was attached to them from the wall, thankfully it was long enough for him to walk around the entirety of his cell. The prison was dimly lit by the torches along the hallway and he could see that there was no bed. He wasn’t expecting there to be one, after all, he was the number one enemy of the titans, he wasn’t about to be given any of the usual comforts.

Still being left alone with his thoughts was almost maddening as he sunk to sit on the floor with his back against a cold wall. There were three people that had ambushed him inside of the walls, and he knew the identity of at least two of them and had a vague description of the third. It was almost a guarantee that his attackers were also titans. Which meant that there were fucking titans inside of the walls, and not only that they were posing as part of the military. They were in the position to give so much critical information to the rest of their kind and with the threat of the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan, would the walls fall without him there to give a warning and to defend his comrades… his species?

His stomach sunk and the cold feeling of his surrounding seemed to invade him from the inside out, he had to face the reality of his situation. There was nothing he could do, but that didn't mean he was going to give these monsters the satisfaction of seeing him break. 

....  
The days passed, but he had no way of knowing how many, and Levi had grown used to the sounds of the jeers and insults of the guards that would come down to his cell to see if he was still breathing. But no food or water was ever given to ease the agony of his body from dehydration and hunger, however not a single plea left the human's lips. There was no point in asking for mercy from creatures that loved to feast on things that begged and cried out for salvation from being a meal. To them, maybe that desperation made humans taste even better. 

Still he was becoming weaker and his body ached from sleeping on the filthy stone floor day in and out. The silence was something he had grown used to, spending his time wondering about what the conditions of the military and walls could be, coming up with scenarios of how to escape, even if the chance was horribly slim. His favorite past time was thinking of ways to get revenge.

A soft creak of the wooden door that blocked off the prison wing from the rest of the place dragged him out of his thoughts. The steps that reached his ears were soft and hesitant. The shuffling came to a stop in front of the bars of the human's cell. However, Levi didn't lift his head, he didn't need to to know that something was different. When the guards visited they were loud and harsh, nothing like this failure of an attempt to be stealthy.

Levi looked through his bangs at the source, that same flash of color he had seen in the throne room was now staring back at him in the form of bright eyes crouched before the bars. What the hell?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright here's the new chapter, sorry for the wait, but life is starting to get busy again with work, school, and other life things.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter a lot, I have so many plans for this. 
> 
> Please leave a comment and tell me your thoughts, it's really appreciated!


	3. Ally and Deals?

In the dim torch light Levi’s eyes had to strain to take in the details of the figure crouching on the other side of the bars. Tall, lean frame that probably had a few inches on Levi, male in gender sporting a messy nest of short brown locks that fell in just a way to frame the youthful face. The other looked to be in his mid to late teenage years, but who knew how old he really was with so little known about a titan’s growth and biological patterns. Hell, those three meter tall titans that he had slaughtered could have been babbling babies, the thought made a bitter taste in his already dry mouth. However, just as soon as the feeling came over him it disappeared again as he reminded himself that these were monsters, not humans. Levi might be killing some creature’s baby, but it was worth it to keep humanity alive. 

Levi forced himself to continue observing the titan, from what he could tell, the other had a light tan to his skin and was dressed in a dark green double breasted waist coat decorated with gold buttons, the collar of the white button up undershirt was fastened tight to protect the other’s neck from the chill of the dungeon, tan pants and dark brown boots completed the titan brat’s ensemble. Even in the darkness, the most startling feature of the other was those damn eyes. Were they blue, green… gold? Perhaps the malnutrition and dehydration was starting to play tricks on his eyes as he couldn’t seem to pin the color down. 

Why the hell was this brat down here? He didn’t seem to be armed to the fucking teeth like the usual guards were and was certainly not dressed like them. Another thing he noticed was that, even though he was leveling the titan with one of his famous glares that had made more than a few new recruits shit their pants in terror, he only received a small flinch. Still the other didn’t retreat, the expression that he was looking at Levi with was one that the corporal had received many times before, only it was from humans. Admiration, fascination, confusion, and wonder, not the contempt, disgust, anger, and most disturbing, the hunger, he got from his usual visitors. 

A small jingling sound caught the human’s attention, shifting away from the staring contest he was having with the brat to what was in the other’s hand, the cell key. Levi had seen it too many times before, just hanging mockingly out of reach on the wall across from his prison. What was the titan going to do with it? His head fucking hurt and didn’t want to deal with this confusing shit.

Levi let his eyes turn back downwards; if the brat was going to stare at him and not do anything he didn’t see the point in wasting the energy it took to watch the monster. Then there was the stuttered sound of metal grating on metal, obviously the other was trying to be quiet as he forced the heavy door open only a crack wide enough for him to slip through. The sound of the other’s steps was soft as he approached the chained up human. As if he was the killer predator here and not the other way around.

“Brat if you’re going to get your glory for killing me, get the fuck on with it. The guards will probably be back soon.” Levi wasn’t asking to be killed, no he was just tired and if the other was going to end him, then he should hurry up and not waste his time. That was the only reason that the brunette would have for coming down to see the murderer of his kind anyway.

The small choking sound of surprise that came from the boy confused him, making Levi’s grey blue eyes flick upwards again. The other wore a nervous, guilty expression as he shifted from foot to foot as he stood before the human. Finally, the titan looked down, his odd colored orbs meeting the human’s before hesitantly kneeling before the thin, dirty form close enough to touch. With Levi’s arms chained behind his back a lot good that did him. How could the other stand being so close to him? The whole dungeon reeked like hell’s asshole, Levi knew having been unable to shower since his capture, he wasn’t the most pleasant smelling creature at the moment. It made no sense and his annoyance grew, “Well? Are you just going to keep staring at me you creepy fucker?” 

“N…No, I’m not going to kill you,” the voice was hesitant and from the face the other pulled before lowering his voice more, Levi had a feeling that the titan wasn’t used to being so quiet. Before he could question the other’s intentions however he eyes focused on something so glorious that his stomach wanted to grow eyes just so it could cry. From the front of his shirt, the other had pulled out a loaf of bread and a canteen of what he assumed to be water. However, even as his body pleaded for the sustenance, Levi’s glare only became more critical as he drilled into the other’s wide eyes, “Why?”

“Why?” Now it was the titan’s turn to look confused as the other questioned his offering, frowning softly and meeting the human’s gaze stubbornly, voice firm, “I don’t want… I don’t want you to die.” Levi opened his mouth, but the kid apparently had the balls to cut him off as he talked right over him, “I know who you are, you’re Levi the Lance Corporal of the Survey Corps and known as Humanity’s Strongest and Hope. I watched you kill Djel and I don’t give a damn. So will you PLEASE eat and drink, I don’t think you want to die rotting down here either.”

Well that certainly shut him up; Levi had to admit he was impressed by the spine and ferocity that appeared in those once nervous eyes. While the titan hadn’t given his reasons as to why he was helping, Levi decided to hold his tongue for now; after all, it was so painfully dry from all the talking that it almost felt like it would crumple to dust in his mouth. Finally he gave a nod of acceptance.

The water that rolled down his throat felt like heaven even though it was warm from being pressed against the titan’s body for who knew how long. The assumed younger male let him drink half the contents of the canteen before pulling it away, starting to tear the bread in half and pulling out the soft fluffy insides to hand feed to the human. The crust was probably hard and would be a pain to chew, literally as even the soft bread made his jaw ache to remind him of its disuse.

“Sorry, this will probably be gross,” the brat warned before taking some of the water and soaking the crust in it, the texture made him want to vomit, but it meant more food so Levi didn’t complain. He at least got to wash the taste away with what was left of the water. As the titan watched him a little grin had started to spread across the tanned face, prompting Levi to speak again, voice more smooth than before with water easing the scratchiness, “What did I say about the staring?”

Getting a jump in response before a nervous chuckle left the titan’s lips he mumbled out, “Sorry. I’m just glad you actually trusted me and you’re already starting to look a little better.” Levi silently agreed with that, he certainly was starting to feel better, but this one meal would not be enough to get him back into his former condition. 

The curiosity about this boy did not end, but when Levi opened his mouth to hopefully finally get his answers the titan was already getting back to his feet, his head tilted slightly to one side like he was listening to something in the distance. His expression turned worried as he swept his eyes about the cell to make sure he didn’t leave any evidence behind before he quickly retreated out of the cell door, locking it and returning the key to its hook. 

Like hell Levi was going to let the little shit just get away like that, “Wait, you’re obviously going against your king or whatever’s decree so why-“ 

Once again he was cut off by the brat as he gave the human a small apologetic smile, lighting up the darkness that was his prison, “I don’t see all humans as evil or lesser, in fact-“ He fell silent as he looked down the hallway, “My name, it’s Eren by the way, when it’s safe enough I’ll come again.” With that the brunette scurried out of sight, leaving a very frustrated and dumbfounded, but full, Levi behind. Too bad he knew that last feeling wouldn’t last long.

…….

Levi wasn’t sure how much time had passed since his mysterious visitor's visit. He was sure it had been a few more days, as hunger gnawed at his stomach again and throat ached for more sweet water. He tried to distract himself from it, thinking instead of that odd titan, that Eren. He had a strange name, but then again, maybe all of the titans had weird names, memories of the names that Hanji had given to the two titans they had managed to capture came to mind. Never before was he so glad that those titans had died in the result of an experiment, if they were still alive and back at the base. A shudder rolled through him that wasn’t related to the cold, there was the chance that they could have reverted back to their human forms and wreaked havoc. 

‘Hanji that idiot, she was devastated, fuck she had been talking to those drooling monsters like they were… people.’ Levi’s thoughts slammed to a halt before grimacing, ‘Fuck, they were disgusting parasites that would have chewed us all to bits if given the chance! Even that boy from before, he’s a monster as well.’ 

The soft patter of steps dragged him back to the present, too soft to be the guards… Was the brat really back? Listening carefully he picked up something different; it was not one set of steps but two. Two hushed male voices muttered to each other, one of which he recognized to being the pretty eyed brat, and he heard the sound of the key once again being taken off of the hook, followed then by the soft creak of the metal moving, but the two didn’t enter the cell yet. Instead they hovered, whispering and seeming to underestimate the human’s hearing as he an unfamiliar male voice spoke, “Eren, are you sure about this? I mean if he wasn’t locked up he would probably kill us without a second thought.”

“Look you didn’t have to come down here with me; you could have stayed upstairs with Mikasa on look out. You don’t need to get in trouble because of me.” There was that fire in the brunette’s voice again and Levi had been right about the fact that the brat was putting himself in a lot of danger with his care for him.

“This is idiotic, this man, I’ve heard he has killed over twenty titans on his own in a single battle and has killed over two hundred of us in total,” this one was obviously the more rational of the two, but Levi couldn’t help but snap his head up at the next words that came out of Eren’s mouth, even though it made his vision swim, “And how many of them do you think we’ve eaten and killed? Probably hundreds of thousands, but you’ve always been better at numbers than me.” Was that actually guilt and anger in the brunette’s voice? 

Eren’s companion flinched when the human had moved, and to Levi this new brat was hardly impressive with short stature that still probably had an inch or so on him, thin body, blond hair chopped into a bowl cut, thick eyebrows that could give Erwin a run for his money, and wide baby blue eyes. He was dressed similarly to Eren, but color of his waist color was navy blue and the collar of his under shirt was open. Could it be that this was a kind of uniform and that these kids were servants for the ‘palace’, if this place could even be called such?

“Eren,” the blond tried again, but his friend ignored him to focus on the human, shaking off the other’s hand as he slipped into the cell, “You want something from him as well and I know it.” Well that didn’t settle right with Levi at all, but he kept his mouth shut as Eren crouched before him pulling out another glorious loaf of bread and canteen. That wasn’t all, there was what looked to be a small hunk of cheese and dried meat. 

“Levi, can I call you that? Sorry that it took me so long to come back, it’s rare for both of the guards to leave at the same time, but they’re starting to get lazy. Hopefully I can bring you food more often.” The titan was asking permission to call him by his name, was he being serious? Eren’s expression remained serious, but there was hope and expectation in those eyes. Who was he to disappoint? Well normally he would but he wanted that food and water, “You’re not my subordinate, so I suppose calling me corporal would be odd.” What would it be like to have a titan under his command? It sounded like a nightmare.

A wide grin bloomed across the brunette’s face as he offered first a few gulps of water and then some of the bread, it was humiliating to be fed like some helpless baby, but his pride was already beaten down quite a bit. Still as he ate, he kept his attention divided between the blond that finally had crept into the cell and Eren. However as the brat offered the dried flesh to his lips, Levi froze, it smelled fine sure, but he couldn’t help the dark thought that rolled through his head. Forcing him to ask, “What meat is it?” 

If Eren was hurt by his suspicions, he didn’t show it instead breaking a small piece off of the strip and offering it, “It’s venison, I know because I helped prepare it.” So the other possibly worked in the kitchens of this place, would explain how he got extra food, still Levi was not easily convinced, “How do I know that you’re not lying to me? Trying to get me to eat something that used to be part of my soldiers? Or maybe its covered in shit and you’re trying to poison me.” 

This time, fury did come to the surface of the youthful face, eyebrows furrowing and eyes narrowing as they lit up with rage at the suggestion. The hand that was holding the piece of meat was starting to shake, it looked like Eren really did want to take a swing at his face, but froze when the blond brat placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering, “Hey we can’t cause a scene down here, they’ll hear us and come running. Calm down!”

Oh? Levi raised a brow as it seemed that the taller titan had some anger issues, as Eren continued to bare his teeth in annoyance, the human had to wonder what would have happened without the newest visitor. Eren took a shaking breath before nodding slightly, meeting the human’s gaze without flinching, “You’re just going to have to trust me.” 

Trust a titan, now that was a novel idea, still it took guts and a lot of control for ANYONE to put up with Levi for an extended period of time, particularly when he was exhausted and cranky. A few tense seconds passed before finally the human opened his mouth, causing a relieved expression to cross both of the titans’ faces as Eren placed the bit of meat inside. As Levi chewed, noting that the flavor certainly matched that of deer, but even if it was something… unsavory, if it allowed him to gain his strength back and hopefully get the chance to escape so he could kill all of these bastards once and for all, maybe the sacrifice would be worth it.

After all of the food was finally gone Levi let his back rest against the wall more comfortably, all of the food was making him sleepy, but he forced himself to not give in to the sweet call of sleep as Eren spoke up, gesturing to the shorter titan next to him, “This is my friend Armin, we’ve know each other since I was very little, so I trust him. He was the one on lookout duty for me last time I came down here.” 

“And what does he want from me exactly?” Alarm passed through the baby blues and the odd bluish, green, gold, he still didn’t know, at having been found out. Armin took a deep breath before speaking quickly, “I… I want to study humans, I want to know how life is like inside of the walls, how the government is run, the customs, trends, what new technology they have, the architecture, I've only heard stories and I want to know truth from fiction, I mean when humans and titans usually met it's outside the walls and the ones that breached the walls-…” 

“Armin!” Levi was grateful for the brunette cutting off the other’s word vomit, so he wanted to study him, like an animal, but one that could give him verbal, intelligible answers? Well he would probably get better results than the humans ever did with their captured titans. Still this was an opportunity that Levi couldn’t afford to waste; blue grey eyes flickered between each youth, keeping their gaze, “I’ll tell you, if you tell me about your kind as well.” 

"Hey, we're already feeding you isn't that enough?" There was hesitation on Armin’s face and in his voice, however, Eren on the other hand, looked absolutely hopeful and willing to spill his figurative guts, but he held his tongue, waiting for his friend’s answer. 

But the wait was getting on Levi’s nerves, huffing out, “What? Are you going to think it over while taking a shit? Humanity is on the brink of extinction, this is one of your last chances to get information from the source brat.”

“Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update and THANK YOU FOR ALL THE COMMENTS! I know that I didn't respond to a lot of them because I have been so busy, but I really hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> If you did like it, please leave a comment with what you did! 
> 
> OTHER NEWS: for those who are reading my story Heart of a Beast, the amazing Tenebrous on AO3 drew a picture of creature Eren from it on their tumblr.  
> Here's the link, it's not done yet, but it looks great so far.   
> http://tenebrousminded.tumblr.com/post/114773259992/bit-more-whole-with-some-of-the-prescribed  
> They also have an amazing on going story Sound of the Sea with Levi and mer!Eren http://archiveofourown.org/works/3563696/chapters/7850246  
> My tumblr is the same as this username, Hyrulehalfbreed


	4. Please, Accept Me

“First question, we’ve heard so many stories about how humans move in maneuver gear, but you above all others, are legendary. For our kind you’ve become the bedtime story that parents give their children when they are naughty.” Levi’s mind tried to imagine such a scene, a huge hulking titan, reading stories to tinier ‘baby’ titans in a bunch of roars and grunts while drooling all over the place, disgusting. However, the human was pulled out of his thoughts as Armin continued, “How did you become so good?” 

Out of all the questions that could have come from the blond haired titan’s mouth, something so personal, but at the same time utterly trivial was not what he expected. Still at least they weren’t asking him military secrets, at least not yet, so Levi supposed he should be grateful, or what the fucking ever. This was information that couldn’t be used against him, after all most of those people involved were already dead. With a small huff he answered, “I learned how to use the gear before I was ten, most people don’t start learning until they join the military around the age of thirteen. I also grew up in the underground, meaning I was used to fighting for survival by any means necessary. The gear we stole from members of the military allowed me to steal and survive better than others.” 

“The underground?” Eren’s voice was filled with wonder and interest; the eyes that were locked on the raven were shinning at him like he held the keys to the world. Perhaps in a way, Levi did for the titan, these two had said they had never been to the walls and seemed to know very little about actual human culture and life. Maybe they were ‘blessed’ with a perfect society where everyone got along and there was no difference between rich and poor. There was a system of monarchy in place, just like in human society, but there was the fact that these creatures liked to munch on humanity and use their bones as toothpicks. Why was he even talking to them? When Eren lifted the canteen to his lips, Levi remembered. He survived this long; he wasn’t about to cow over now because of pride. He would accept anything that could help him get his strength back and hopefully fuel his escape. 

“The underground is the city that exist stories below the surface under Sina, the capital, which lies in the inner most walls. They say the underground was the original capital, but after the walls and the titans, a newer capital was built on top of it. The underground is the home of not only the diseased and criminals, but people too poor or repulsive to be seen as decent enough human beings to live above ground with the rest of the population. It’s also a place where people throw unwanted kids. If one is from the underground they have to buy a passport to join the city above, but it is too fucking expensive to obtain for most, have to sell half of your damn organs and a leg basically. I and my crew were some of the best thugs there for years, stealing from supply shipments and from rich men wanting to capitalize on the desperation of the people in the underground. Our reputation got too large and a group from the Survey Corps came after us. We were captured and given two choices, death or joining the Corps and fighting titans. Seeing as I’m still around, you can see my choice.” 

Levi wasn’t expecting to see the rage that took over the tanned titan’s face, frowning as his tongue refused to stay in check, “You look constipated, and do titans even shit?” Hanji had claimed from her research that titans didn’t even have a digestive tract outside of the stomach and because of that they vomited out half melted humans in revolting pellets. There was also the fact that he had never seen any titan with genitals before, how did they breed. He grimaced, not that he really wanted to know for his own means, but the military would. 

“I-I’m not!” Red colored Eren’s face at the suggestion, “An-Anyway in this form of course we can… Can shit!” There was a few seconds of hesitation before the curse came from the brunette’s lips, like the titan was nervous to cuss in front of the human. Seriously, Levi was used to being called intimidating, but he was fucking half-starved and locked up tight. Still the raven felt the slightest tugs on the corner of his lips as he noticed how proud Eren looked after he managed to get the word out of his lips, while the blond titan looked scandalized and annoyed with both the human’s and his friend’s choice of language. It would be funny if not of his current situation, or maybe that was what made it more entertaining. Still Eren continued, the light of rage still inside of those odd colored eyes, “I just… I just think it’s fucking stupid that you can be treated less for how or where you are born by others. What gives them the right?!” 

“Eren,” Armin’s voice was soft, and there was sympathy in those big baby blue eyes, honestly Levi felt like he was being left out of the loop, but it seemed that it was something personal to the brat as he shook his head, fists shaking slightly as he ground his teeth in frustration. Why was the other getting so worked up, and was that pity in his eyes for Levi. The corporal was about to unleash his mouth again to tell the brat exactly where he could put that shitty pity when he paused; no it wasn’t pity, but perhaps, understanding? Curiosity tried to gnaw its way into Levi but he pushed it away. 

“Deal with it brat, it seems to be in the nature of all living things to attack or judge things that are different than the norm. The ones that are stronger are able to kill or enslave the weak; humans add a new layer because of money,” Levi answered finally with a small shrug, blue grey eyes watching as Eren’s expression turned hurt, looking down at his hands that laid in his lap as he crouched on the stone floor, voice soft, but Levi was still able to pick up the words, “I thought inside the walls, with humans it would be different.” Maybe titan social structures weren’t as perfect as they appeared from the throne room scene, all of them had been united in the idea of attacking Levi and had bent without question to the orders of the king. However, who knew what lay just underneath the surface. He needed to know, he shifted the chains jingling loudly as a result, gathering the titans’ attentions, dragging out the silent conversation they seemed to be having with their eyes. 

“I answered a few of your questions, now it’s your turn.” The two shared another small look before Armin nodded his head, still more skittish and uncertain about all of this, but if it meant gaining more of the forbidden fruit of knowledge then he seemed to be willing to bend to the human’s demands, “Okay, what do you want to ask first?” Eren looked eager, eyes finally losing their rage and instead filled with the light of interest. 

“How are you able to turn into those monsters,” Blunt as always, but he wasn’t about to sugar coat his opinion on the creatures that had killed so many under his command. Back at the headquarters there was not only a drawer full of the chest badges from the uniforms of fallen soldiers in his desk, but also boxes of them under his bed. It might be seen a macabre to keep them so close, but they had all been part of his team and helped to try and fight for humanity’s freedom. They didn’t deserve to be forgotten or thrown away, a piece that he could keep forever, unlike the burned remains or the bodies left behind outside of the walls. 

“The, umm ‘monster’ form is what we can the ‘ancestral’, one can only turn into this form after they reach a certain age. We have our own ceremony that goes along with the coming of age. Eren and I both are not old enough yet. We are actually some of the youngest of the titan children. We have long lifespans, and our aging slows after a certain point so there’s not much a hurry to have babies I suppose.” Armin explained, though at the mention of the ceremony Eren pulled a face. However, Levi looked back to the blond as he continued, “Every titan is able to take this form, but its appearance differs from person to person, along with the powers. Though not everyone is blessed with powers, it’s actually rather rare and ones that do have them are considered to be much higher ranking than others once they reach maturity.” 

“Powers?” What the fuck was the other talking about, but Levi paused as he remembered the day that Maria was breached, the Colossal Titan, sure maybe being big wasn’t a power, but that fire blast from that other bastard certainly was, the cursed title leaving his lips, “The Armored Titan.” 

“Armored?” Armin repeated softly, wincing slightly as he noticed the hatred seeping into those grey blue orbs as Eren spoke, “I think he means Reiner.” Levi’s hands clenched in his chains as his mind whirled, while he already expected that the three individuals that ambushed him were titans, to think that humanity was actually harboring the Armored Titan, Colossal Titan, and a third with unknown powers for the past few years made his stomach revolt against the food he just ingested. Levi gritted his teeth, refusing to give into the urge, who knew when he was going to get more food. 

“Why, why the hell do you eat humans? What is your plan inside of the walls?!” the demand was delivered in a voice so icy cold, but the rage was obviously bubbling underneath, for the first time a long while, Levi was losing his head. How many people died, lost their homes, and the survivors working desperately, giving up money in taxes to feed the Corps, to feed their own murderers?! 

“Levi-,” Eren’s eyes were wide with surprise at the outburst, but before he could continue Armin made a shushing motion, both of the young titans freezing up as their eyes turned towards the hallway. The blond getting to his feet quickly and silently gathering all of the small packs that had contained the food they had brought, “We have to go, if we get caught down here…” The brunette looked more reluctant to leave, but at his friend’s urging he exited the cell, “I’ll come back, I promise. I don’t know when I will be able to, but I’m not about to let someone like you die like this.” Levi’s frustration about the fact that the earth shattering truth was denied to him yet again evaporated at the brat’s words, blinking as he tried to figure out what Eren had meant by someone like him. Powerlessly the human could only watch as the door was slide shut and lock clicking back into place, key returned, and then the two youths disappeared the way they had come.

…. 

The next time he heard the soft footsteps of his odd company it had to have only been a day and a half, but the shocked gasp that came from Eren’s lips almost made Levi wonder if he was trying to get them both killed with how loud it was. The door was swiftly opened, but the human didn’t lift his head to meet the gaze of the youth. It hurt too much to as his whole body was black and blue, some of the cuts made by the edge of the steel toed boots of the guards still oozing blood. With the return of his strength from the food and water, so had the ability to mouth off to his captors, and unfortunately they didn’t appreciate his absolutely lovely sense of humor.

“Levi? Are you okay!?” thankfully the brat’s voice had softened so his ear drums didn’t burst, as warmer than humanly normal hands cupped his face Levi withheld the urge to grimace. Gently those fingers forced Levi’s chin up to he could meet those memorizing orbs of swirling color, blinking slowly as he noticed more gold than usual in them. Still Eren better have washed his hands, but then again, he was probably the filthier of the two because of his living conditions. “Do I fucking LOOK okay?” Levi couldn’t help but snap out that answer to such an obvious question. 

“Sorry, stupid question,” Eren winced, running his thumb gently under one of the deep scratches on the human’s right cheek, the pad of the digit getting painted scarlet as a result. The color was absolutely memorizing as the titan drew his thumb up to his own eyes, and his nose twitched at the smell of the blood so different from his own. His instincts screamed and without thinking his tongue reached out to swipe up the complete foreign taste. Immediately his eyes closed as a shiver rolled up his spine, it was… addicting, delicious, amazing, but… 

Eren cracked his eyes open to see an expression that was completely blank on Levi’s face and his heart dropped into his stomach. Shit, shit, he had messed up so badly, why did he do that? It was wrong, so very wrong. Would he be able to get that meager amount of trust back? “I’m sorry, I-I really don’t know what came over me.” He bowed his head, quickly taking his hands back to his sides, silently preparing for the human to spew hate and insults at him. 

“Just give me some water already,” Sure Levi had been disgusted by what had just happened; perhaps Eren was just as much of a monster as the rest of his kind. After all, the other’s expression when he tasted his blood had been one of absolute bliss and brought back memories of how so many of his subordinates had been devoured by seemingly mindless titans. He wanted to keep distance from this brat, from all the titans, but he needed them to survive at the same time. What would the others think of him if they saw him in this situation? The sound of liquid hitting the stone gathered Levi’s attention back to the present. Eren had put the mouth of the canteen to a handkerchief to gather some water, but a few drops had escaped from the makeshift stopper. 

“I’ll try to clean some of the wounds, infection down here could be deadly,” Eren offered softly, his voice shaking and hesitant; he was still afraid that Levi would banish him from the cell and from his sight forever. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he could handle it if the raven hated him, it would be reasonable to expect him to but, just… Eren pleaded to the gods that Levi would somehow, someway accept him maybe not now, but hopefully in the future. First he focused on letting the human drink his fill before gently moving to wipe away the blood and grime from the raw wounds around the shackles of the other’s wrists. It had to hurt incredibly, but Levi never offered a sound of pain or protest. The man, he was just amazing. To Eren he was the pillar of humanity’s potential and strength, nothing could make this man yield. 

Eren tried to balance cleaning wounds and offering food and drink, something that could take Levi’s mind away from the painful process. However, as each new bruise was revealed under grime and the gleam of bright blood glared back at him, Eren felt his anger rising. It wasn’t fair, why would anyone take pleasure in beating a man that could not defend himself?! As he wiped the cloth over Levi’s forehead, calm blue grey eyes locked with his own wild ones. Eren couldn’t stop the shaking in his hands as rage rolled through him and he quickly ripped his hands away, setting them back in his lap as he stared at the floor, “I’m sorry for what they’ve put you through, but how can you… just not be affected by all this?” 

“Just because I’m not crying and throwing a fit like a child doesn’t mean I’m not affected. I just know that doing so doesn’t get you shit.” Levi had watched the other’s not so internal struggle while tending to his wounds, he was trembling and those eyes were so very bright in the dimness of the cell. The question burned at him so he finally asked, “What’s got your panties in a twist, these are your people that did this to me, I killed so many of your kind.” 

“M-My people?!” Eren’s voice stuttered as he met the human’s eyes once more, hand clenched around the now bloody cloth, “These aren’t my people, I would never call anyone that enjoys in the killing and torturing of something that cannot fight back one of my own.” His tone softened as his hands moved to grasp at the tight collar of his uniform before shaking his head, “Not many of them consider me to be either.” 

“What do you mean by that brat?” Much to Levi’s frustration the titan only shook his head, those entrancing eyes looking at some of the deep cuts in the pale flesh before him. “I don’t want to talk about it, not right now. I want to make sure you get to eat as much food as possible and I’ll answer your questions as best I can from the other day. But, I don’t have all the answers.” The brunette squirmed under that intense blue grey gaze before continuing, “I know you might be disgusted, but I want to seal the worst of those wounds, I can… use my saliva to transfer a bit of my healing powers to those spots.” 

While he was grossed out by the idea of being covered with titan drool, which clearly and immediately showed on Levi’s face with his scowl and scrunch of his nose. However after a few seconds of not so internally pointing out the unhygienic aspects, Eren countering with closing the wounds would remove the chance of infection, he finally gave a small nod of defeat. He was expecting for Eren to just spit on the rag and rub it into his skin, leaning back when titan leaned closer suddenly. 

“The rag’s dirty,” Eren groaned softly as he was given a skeptical look from the human, “PLEASE, I don’t want to do this as much as you don’t want it to happen.” A brow raised and the teenager practically whined, “Okay, I reacted to your blood in less than promising ways, but it… tastes good.” Shame flooded into him, why did he have to be so despicable and disgusting to this powerful and beautiful man?! He didn’t want to have a taste for humans, but those were his instincts, or at least… half of them.

“Just hurry up brat, I want to get this over with. You fucking take a bite out of me and I’ll make you regret it.” Sure Levi wasn’t sure HOW he was going to accomplish that, but the threat wasn’t empty either. Inwardly, he also just wanted to get that look of self-loathing off of the tan face before him. For some reason, the corporal couldn’t find fault or lies in this titan brat. Something told him his faith wasn’t miss placed. 

“…Thank you.” It came out more of a whisper, before Eren cleared his throat awkwardly, leaning forward again, and his tongue making a swipe up the shorter man’s left cheek to cover the deep cut, which was probably made by the edge of a boot. A small hiss came from Levi’s lips and Eren knew that it was from the pain from the heat of muscles and cells overworking themselves to knit back together, a small bit of steam trailing towards the ceiling as a result. But pale unscarred skin was left in its wake. Internally Eren couldn’t help but give a happy dance at the fact that it worked, he actually… wasn’t sure if it would. His heart was beating slowing back down in relief as he busied himself with dealing with the rest of the deep cuts, knowing he should leave the smaller so the guards didn’t get too suspicious at the human’s sudden lack of injuries. 

The taste of blood coated Eren’s tongue as he moved from the other’s cheek to a spot on his collarbones; really this was too intimate. He was honestly glad that he could move on to other areas, such as the arms and legs, being able to hide the redness of his face by ducking his head down. At least Levi wasn’t making any comments about it all. 

He had been through hell, had suffered through far worse than a reluctant mouth and tongue on his skin, Levi reminded himself of this over and over again. But he still shuddered slightly as he felt the brat lift up the back of his undershirt so he could lick over one of the wounds that had soaked through the thin fabric. At least Eren would think the shaking was a mixture of exhaustion, hunger, and distaste. It was strange the heat that was coming off of the other’s body, rolling towards him in waves and it was a relief in the cold of the cell, but he refused to let himself lean into it. Still he let out a small breath as Eren drew himself away, licking excess blood from his lips… Gross. “Now that that shit is out of the way, my questions?” 

Eren sighed softly as he tried to clean his mouth off on his sleeve, before pulling out some food, letting the other chew as he tried to explain what he could, “First, to us, as you have seen, humans… taste good, we are perfectly fine on surviving on other animals, or even having a simple vegetarian diet, though it’s not preferred by anyone I know. All of the titan royalty, from hundreds of years ago seem to have deemed humans as a delicacy, something to be hunted and dominated. There’s a… belief that only after eating a human that a titan’s full potential can be realized.” Levi honestly wished that he wasn’t chewing on meat during the explanation, but he forced himself to swallow, eyes narrowed in fury. So there was no real point for humanity’s destruction, he tightened and loosed his fists in the shackles, wondering about his own fate once again in the titans’ hold. 

Still he kept silent as Eren continued, “As for what is happening with the walls, I honestly do not know. Most of the plans are only spoken between the elders, nobles, royal family, and the warriors. I’m none of those things.” 

“Then what are you Eren? Why are you even helping me, risking yourself for someone that only wants to slit open the back of your neck?” Even if Armin had said that both he and Eren were not old enough to take on the ancestral form, they seemed to be healthy youths; if they were going to fight humans shouldn’t they be starting to train? However, Eren showed no signs of military or any kind of mark of a fighter besides his attitude.

The brunette stiffened up, his hand reaching to touch his own cloth covered neck, a bit of true fear flickered in his eyes before he started to unclasp the top buttons of his uniform. Tanned fingers moved to peel open the fabric to reveal what had been hidden from the human all times before, a heavy metal collar locked tight around his throat, “Because I’m a slave and I’m… half human half titan.” 

The silence between the halfling and human was deafening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop, hey look finally a new chapter of one of my works, I REALLY am hoping that you guys are enjoying this story, sorry if it seems to be a little slow right now.
> 
> But hey I just graduated from university and yeah, staying in my home town for a few week, hopefully get more writing done in this time.
> 
> Anyway, if you did like this chapter please comment, it's 3:30 in the morning and I'm going to pass out now and try to resist getting sick.


	5. Tell It, Accept it

“You… do realize how outrageous that sounds right? The idea that our two species could breed without one eating the other,” Levi muttered in disbelief, lip sneering at the idea. How stupid did this brat think he was? But almost instantly, he regretted what he had said at the expression that crossed the brunette’s face, one that looked like he was split with the desire to throw up, rage, and let loose a few tears. So many raw emotions ready to boil over.

The corporal really wished he had better control of his mouth sometimes and just, you known, thought before speaking, “Oh fuck…. You’re shitting me, did that, did that really happen?” Sure he wasn’t sure if he believed such a tall tale, but it would explain why there was just something… different about this brat.

“I-I…” he swallowed hard, unsure of how to go about telling the human his story, it certainly wasn’t happy. However, Levi’s didn’t seem to be the most pleasant either. He didn’t want to keep him in the dark; it didn’t matter if he thought he was telling the truth or how painful the memories were. He took a slow, deep breath to steady himself, “Sorry, it’s still kind of hard to talk about, it happened around… I guess it might have been ten years. We don’t really keep track since we age kind of differently." But this was going to be like pulling off the scab of a horrid wound, making it fresh and painful once more.

“Anyway how my parents met I’m not too sure, I guess for some reason there was a number of humans that were kicked out of the walls? My mother, Carla, got separated from her group when they were attacked by titans. My father, Grisha, was with that scouting group and went after her, but when he finally caught her… I guess he just couldn’t do it. My father claimed it was love at first sight, my mom…. Not so much. She said she slapped my dad’s glasses off when he first revealed his smaller form.” Eren smiled softly at the memory, remembering how his mother had told the story while proudly reenacting scene, his father had been standing to the side with an embarrassed look and touched his cheek like he could still feel the pain even though it was just a memory. 

Levi’s own thoughts were in a whirl as he imaged how such a meeting would have gone if he was in that position, he certainly would not have been satisfied with a simple slap. But to slap a titan across the face, Eren's mother had Levi's respect. Still he wondered why humans were outside the walls, and then his stomach sank, remembering the forced purge after the fall of wall Maria. Eren’s mother must have been one of the refugees that had been part of the “expedition” that had really just been a means for getting rid of overcrowding and too many mouths to feed with not enough resources. Those royal bastards weren’t willing to give up their steak and tenderloins to help humanity prosper. The human was pulled out of his brooding when Eren continued.

“Grisha hid her away in a part of the forest, made a house for her and would visit every day, providing anything she needed. Anything that could make her happy, my father tried to provide. He was kind of like Armin, curious and intelligent, wanting to learn more about humans and what made us so different for each other. I guess he won my mom over eventually.” A small smile was on Eren’s lips as he remembered these stories and the more kind memories, before they all went sour.

“To their surprise, they had me. They both had some hope that I would be able to change the future between their races.” He could remember the conversation that his parents had with him, sat down in the living room and having his innocence towards the world uprooted. Told the truth about how his mother and father were never supposed to have fallen in love. That humans were seen as just food for titans and how he was a one of a kind mix of both. A small sigh came from the brunette’s lips, how he had fallen so short of their expectations. 

“But to the rest of the world, I’m an abomination, something that shouldn’t exist.” Levi held his tongue about agreeing with that sentiment, Eren had been nothing but kind to him, strange, but kind the raven reminded himself. “We lived in secrecy and peace for a while, my mom and I would stay in the cabin my father built, while he went back and forth between living with the rest of the titans and us. I didn’t think that there was anything wrong with our family until… the others found out.” 

“Our lives were destroyed in one day; someone had followed my father and saw what was going on, then reported it back to royal family. The next thing we knew,” Eren swallowed hard, his teeth gritted in anger and pain, before peeking back towards the human. He could see that the other was hanging on his every word, even if his expression was just slightly different from his usual stoic one. A little more light in his already bright eyes. “The roof of our house was literally torn off and a group of titans attacked us. The king,” the halfling spat out the title with a small shake of his head, how bitter it tasted on his tongue, “forced my father to turn into his ancestral form and… made him eat my mom. I’m just glad his mind was stripped before that.”

“Stripped? What the hell are you talking about, how could anyone “make” a titan do anything?” Levi honestly felt sick. While he might have been forced to watch his own mother die from a mix of starvation and sickness, Eren had been forced to watch his mother be murdered by his own father without having any power to stop it. He was a child, just like Levi had been when his family had been destroyed for the first time. 

The halfling blinked, it seemed that Eren had forgotten that Levi had no fucking idea about their history or the way that titian society worked. “Remember how Armin and I told you that certain titans can have different abilities when they take their ancestral form? Well, the royal family has a power that is… I suppose the closest thing that I could compare it to is from another creature in human fairy tales,” He had heard about the water dwelling creatures from his mother when she got tired of being so worried sick about him when he would try to go swimming by himself in a nearby river, “A siren, their orders have the power to make you lose all free will and awareness. You just become a mindless,” Eren trailed off as he saw the look of realization come over the human’s face, Levi finishing the sentence for him, “Monster.”

“So all those titans that have been wandering near the walls, the ones that make no effort to avoid our blades and only focus on eating.” Blue grey eyes were wide in thought as he realized the creatures he might have been cutting down were basically brain dead. 

“We call them ‘roamers’, most of them were titans that either displeased the royal family in some way or their ancestral forms were considered good for nothing but fodder for using up human warriors’ supplies.” A shudder ran up Eren’s spine as he drew his knees up to his chest, leaning against the cell wall, though he made sure to keep just out of touching distance of Levi, for the human’s own comfort. 

The halfling’s body was practically crying out for some form of physical touch, something to ease his pain and fear brought about by this conversation. “It’s because of that traditional wait till a certain age and ceremony that I have been allowed to live while my mother was killed and then my father was ripped apart too after being forced to devour her. Guess the higher ups just want to see what kind of disgusting thing I can turn into before getting rid of me.” 

The silence that stretched between the two was awkward, but at the same time not. They were sharing the same chopping block; the end drawing closer to the both of them in one way or another. Yet Eren was still risking hastening his demise to help a human, something he shared half of his being with.

Finally it was Levi that spoke first as he looked towards the youth, “So that’s it? You’re just going to wait till your end at the hands of some stupid royal asshole?” Those odd colored orbs were wide as he met the other’s cooler gaze, obviously surprised at being called out. The human was more used to Eren having a fighting spirit under that collar, but now it seemed like his flame was almost completely stamped out. 

“Listen, Eren,” He straightened up, his chains clanking behind him as he moved, “You might feel like you're helping me by giving me water and food, but honestly you’re just prolonging my stay in this disgusting hellhole.” Levi grimaced as he felt a bit of the mildew that grew on the walls of the cell be pressed onto his fingers. Disgusting. How long had it been since he had taken a bath? How long had he been trapped down here? 

To the brunette it felt like Levi had taken his heart in his hands and just squeezed it until it was some sticky pulpy mess. What was Eren doing, risking his life to help a human that probably still wanted to kill him once his back was turned? Still he couldn’t find himself regretting what he was doing, but… “Are you telling me to stop coming?” Was this Levi’s way of banishing him?

The raven blinked, thinking over Eren’s question carefully, did he want the halfling to leave him? He was honestly surprised by the fact that he didn’t. While he was half of something that Levi had spent most of his life fighting against, he was also half of what he swore to protect. A half that was supposed to be his ally. Was he going to turn away the kid that was so desperately searching for his acceptance and contact? It was strange for Levi, he was used to people adoring him and idolizing him, sure. However, most people shied away from him when they were actually face to face, too intimidated to try and make contact. Or the people would be horribly fake, trying to be whatever they thought Levi wanted them to be.

Eren wasn’t like either of those types. He was intimidated, yes, he tried to bend over backwards sometimes to get Levi to accept him. But at the same time, the brunette was incredibly real and honest, his emotions raw and honestly really refreshing. Not just because he had been locked away for so long by himself either. Even back at the Corps, there were only a few soldiers and higher-ups that actually were truthful and real around him.

Well, it seemed that nothing was ever going to be easy or normal in Levi’s life, including friendship or acquaintanceship, Hanji should have been his first fucking hint to that. Well, he was now going to have to cross a line he never thought he’d have to. Choosing to be friends and allies with something like Eren, he heaved a loud and long sigh, making Eren squirm nervously, “You can keep coming, I don’t hate your company, it’s actually rather nice. But I think you need to start thinking of getting yourself out of here too.”

Eren blinked owlishly as he processed the other’s words, both happiness and fear bubbling inside of him. However, it was still rather short lived, what Levi was suggesting… He found himself biting his lower lip in thought before mumbling out, “What would I do if I left, I don’t want to be alone. I can’t imagine that me just up and leaving would go over very well. They would send people after me, or they would hurt the few friends I have here.” The very few that did not judge him for what he was, ones that could, in a way, call him family. 

“Either way your ‘friends’ are going to suffer, brat. Either from titans being pissed at them or from having to watch you be killed. Life is a pile of shit no matter what. I would personally want someone I care about to have a chance at surviving than just watching them roll over like a damn dog into their grave.” T his was Levi’s form of friendly advice, the halfling needed to get the fuck out and not let himself be dragged down, escape before literal chains were placed on him to keep him tethered to the whims of titanic assholes, ha, good one Levi.

Eren continued to gnaw at his bottom lip in thought, finally mumbling out as he reached over to offer the human more water, “I’ll think about it, okay? Let’s talk about something else now. I want to know more about the walls, I want to learn more about the world that my mom came from.” 

Levi acquiesced, deciding to recount some of the happier tales of his life, or just tales in general; after all he had plenty of stories about his squad, Hanji, and Erwin. Eren soaked up everything like a sponge, if he had pen and paper, the human suspected that the brunette would have been making it go a mile a minute to make sure that he never forgot what Levi let spew from his lips. In return, Eren told a little bit more about how titans lived in the mountain, how there were small clans of titans that lived in villages in the mountain ranges, but that they all reported to the royal family when called.

However, during one conversation about what animals lived near the mountain Eren held up a hand, suddenly growing stiff as he seemed to be listening to something. Levi fell instantly quiet as well, annoyed that the other seemed to have higher senses than him, even if it was rather obvious because of his heritage. It didn’t sit right with the corporal to be weaker in any aspect than someone else, particularly to someone that was apparently much younger. 

The seconds ticked by and neither moved, until finally Eren heaved a long sigh, his smile shaky as he got to his feet, sticking his belongings back into his uniform, “I thought I heard something, I guess it was nothing. But I’ve stayed here too long, I don’t want Armin to be caught hanging out in the hall and causing suspicions.” 

Levi wasn’t going to lie to himself about being disappointed by the other’s retreat. However, he rather the brat get back safely than face the fate of being caught. That’s why he only gave a short nod of understanding as the brunette moved towards the door, shutting and locking it as quietly as possible before moving down the hall. But as quickly as Eren disappeared from sight he returned, and not in the most pleasant of ways either.

The human had heard the skin on skin impact and pained yelp from Eren before he saw the tanned form falling to the ground outside his cell, cradling his left cheek as steam quickly rose from it as muscles and flesh tried to mend themselves. Then another figure stepped into Levi’s line of sight, one whose right hand was also steaming and brown eyes were alight in fury and disbelief. 

The new male was someone that Levi recognized, a young guard that usually ignored Levi’s existence, only checking his cell door and if he was breathing before disappearing back the way he had come. He was taller than Eren, but looked to be around the same age. Short lighter brown hair with a darker undercut underneath, with a long face. He was dressed in the same blue uniform that Armin had worn when he had come down with Eren. 

“I always knew that you were dumb Yeager, but I didn’t think you were fucking suicidal!” Eren seemed to still be recovering from the unexpected attack, blinking blurrily as he tried to get his vision to refocus. His basic instincts were still working just fine though as he let out a loud rumbling growl as the taller titan crouched over him, grabbing the collar of his green uniform in an almost chokingly tight hold. Eren knew that voice, dammit, why did it have to be him of all people, but perhaps he could still save himself because it was a ‘friend’ and not a different guard, “Jean, please, let me explain.”

“Explain?! Yeah, you don’t need to explain, you don’t even know how long I’ve been listening for!” Eren winced, yeah, he really had no idea, dammit, he only had half the hearing that a normal titan did. If he had Jean’s or Armin’s level, then he would have been able to hear the horse face’s fucking heartbeat from that distance. 

A look of disgust crossed Jean’s face when his eyes flickered towards the collar that was usually hidden from sight, letting go of the other’s clothing with a huff, “So you told him, dammit, I knew this would happen. But you’re not smart enough to pull this off on your own.” The titan stiffened up before groaning running as hand over his face, “You dragged Mikasa and Armin into this too didn’t you, if you want to risk your life that’s fine by me, but you shou-“

Suddenly the taller boy was flat on his back, air knocked out of him as he tried to recover from Eren kicking his legs out from under him. Wincing he forced himself to sit up, balancing back on his hands and seeing Eren in the same position, “Shut up Jean, I didn’t make them help me, they chose to. You know Armin has wanted to talk to a real human since forever and Mikasa… Well you know she has her reasons. I just really needed to talk and help him… you wouldn’t understand.”

“You’re right; I don’t, and wouldn’t want to know what it’s like to be you. I guess, I can see why you’d want to meet him,” Jean let his shoulders fall in defeat; he didn’t hate Eren, far from it. He knew how the halfling was treated wasn’t fair and that his life was a cursed one. If the brunette was going to suddenly disappear one day, he would, in fact, miss him. They were abrasive towards each other sure, but they also liked to cause trouble together. 

“You’re not going to turn the brat in, right?” the light haired teenager jumped at the deep voice, jerking his head to look towards the human. Almost as quickly as he did, he wished he hadn’t. The expression on the raven’s face was positively murderous. Was the lance corporal, defender of humanity, actually standing up for someone like Eren? It was terrifying, confusing, and endearing all at the same time and Jean wondered if he was going to get emotional whiplash from all of this. And he wasn’t even the one that was directly involved! Finally, he gave a small shake of his head in answer. He wouldn’t turn Eren in, never; he never wanted to have the other’s blood on his hands. Not only would he not be able to live with himself, but Mikasa would probably kill him. The dark haired beauty and Levi had a lot in common actually; they were both absolutely terrifying and intense.

Slowly Jean pushed himself to his feet, still cautious as he watched the bound man from the corner of his eye, offering a hand to help the halfling up. “Come on, we need to get out of here before a different guard starts his rounds.” 

Eren nodded softly, sending a small smile towards the corporal to try and eliminate his worries, “I’ll be back as soon as I can, but I don’t think I’ll be able to come back for a few days again.” Levi gave a soft nod of his head, at least the kid seemed to be okay for now, even if he still didn’t quite trust the titan that decked his brat in the face. Wait, when did Eren become ‘his’ brat? It must be the starvation and hydration talking. The human let his eyes close, feeling exhausted from all the excitement. Now he only listened to the sounds of footsteps fading away. 

Unable to stop his own gasp at the conversation he managed to catch. Levi's time really was running out.

__

“Wait, you haven’t heard?” Jean’s tone actually took one of pity, not for the titan murderer in the cell, but for his own rival. He wasn’t sure how it was going to happen, but the declaration had been made earlier that morning. Then again if Eren had been down here for so long, then perhaps he didn't hear all of the whispers ringing in the halls. Jean set his hand on the halfling’s shoulder, unaware and uncaring if the human heard him or not as he steered the brunette back towards the stairs, “That human is going to be executed in three days.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay new chapter finally added, sorry for the long wait, I had a lot of shit and just crazy things going on in my life lately. I will be working on the next chapter for Heart of a Beast next.
> 
> If you want something to read in the meantime then you can look at my new Attack on Titan work, Like Solving a Rubik's Cube. Also I posted a new Gravity Falls work that is BillDip
> 
> Anyway if you enjoyed this chapter, please comment


	6. Your Life is My Escape

Time continued to crawl onward, the dankness and chill of the cell was taking its toll on Levi, his mind and nerves were frazzled more than he cared to admit with the knowledge that he was soon going to meet his end. While he was used to facing death on the battle field every day, this was different. He couldn’t fight back, he wasn’t able to take one last shot at his enemy or be at peace with the knowledge that he had failed to fulfill the promise he had made to so many of his fallen comrades, that humanity would win. No one back in the walls would know his fate most likely. Were they falling apart without him? Without him as their symbol, had humanity lost their hope and morale? 

He had so many fucking questions left and he couldn’t get any answers. There was still so much about titans that he didn’t know or understand, not that it did him much good. And honestly… he missed the bright eyed brat that had strange mixed blood. 

Even though their meetings were brief and the main purpose was to sustain Levi’s failing body, the moments were so emotionally charged. Eren’s face and movements were always showing just what he was feeling, the fire of his anger, the curl of his lip when he was disgusted, the wetness of his eyes in sorrow and misery even if it was not for himself, and the light that came to those odd colored orbs when the halfling felt happiness from Levi’s slight smiles, acceptance, and stories. 

The kid wasn’t bad at all, but he hadn’t seen him again since the incident with being caught by that long faced titan brat named Jean. Yes, he was still a little bit bitter about the whole thing. That kid had no manners and jumped to conclusions too fast... but then again all of those guesses had been right. 

Levi didn’t know how many days had passed, but he knew that it was a few for the fact that his stomach was aching and his throat and tongue felt like sand paper. He knew he would probably sound like a croaking mess once he opened his mouth. The human honestly wondered if he was going to die of thirst before the execution even took place. That wasn’t the only problem that he had, he was sick, ill for the first time in over a decade, from a combination of his squalor living conditions, cold, and lack of basic nutrients. Fever was making small tremors roll through his aching muscles and his head felt like it was being hit with blacksmith's hammer over and over again. Maybe Levi could bash his skull hard enough against the wall to end his torment for a sort while, it might bring some blessed relief. 

However, just as the thought crossed his mind, the dull thumps of boots were starting to sound from down the hall. It wasn’t Eren or any of his friends, that much was obvious. Forcing himself to sit up a little straighter Levi let loose a glare of his full and utter hatred towards the guards that pulled open the door to his cell. He got equal sneers in response as the titans moved to unhook the main chain to his shackles forcing him unsteadily to his feet. “Do we even need the chains? The bastard can barely walk as it is.” One of them grumbled as they pulled their captive up the flights of stairs, not caring about the way Levi tripped and sagged in their grip. There was also a small trail of blood following them from old wounds aggravated by the jerks of the unforgiving metal.

It was honestly impressive that he could move on his own at all, not that either of the guards were going to admit that. “You want to have the king on your ass for not following his orders to the letter?” The guard shivered in answer to his companion as they trudge forward. They took many twisting and turning hallways to avoid anyone that wasn’t where they were supposed to be. After all, almost everyone was supposed to attend this special event.

They approached a grand stone door that extended over 40 meters tall, it was gigantic and looked ancient, Levi’s head spun to imagine a titan that tall before grimacing as the colossal titan came to mind. Were there more like that freak among these assholes? He didn’t really want to find out as they entered the new cavern. The ceiling and walls seeming to stretch almost endlessly with scattered stalactites and stalagmites. There was a small ledge that stretched outwards a little ways with sloping ramps leading up to it from either side. Another notable feature, was that everything was incredibly white, all of the stone was a softly glowing white, but its pristine was ruined by a few blotches of brown and dark red at the base and at the end of the ledge. Levi knew that it was blood, some old and dried, some newer. 

There was also a large gathering of titans off to the side, all whispering and smirking at the bound human as he was dragged forward. Forced to slowly make the journey up to the top of the ledge and to kneel at the very edge which was just wide enough for a normal sized person. A new chain was attached to his shackled wrist, pinning him in place and without enough slack to even stand up. 

So was this the titans’ execution site or….? 

Levi’s musing was cut off as he watched one, kind of portly, figure move forward. He recognized him almost instantly, Rod Reiss, king of the titans. The man smirked as he looked over the dirty and malnourished form, the tattered uniform that hung off his form rather than clung to it, cheeks hollowed in, skin now even paler than before, and dark, unforgiving bags under his eyes. The king waved a hand about the chamber declaring with obvious jeer, “Oh how Humanity’s Strongest has fallen, reduced to being just like the rest of your weak and sniveling kind.” He chuckled and the rest of the shape-shifters joined in, before falling silent again with a small motion, “Welcome, Lance Corporal Levi, to the Chamber of Trials. This place is very important to us. You see, it is not only where we deal with traitors, but also where we hold ceremonies. Such as the one you will be playing a starring role in. It is the coming of age ceremony.”

Memories of past conversations came rushing back, this couldn’t be happening. Was Levi going to be used to create another monster to devour humans? He was going to be devoured by some brat, what a fucking way to go; he couldn’t help but rattle his chains as his muscles jerked in a mixture of fear and frustration. But the sound only made the king and the rest of the titans laugh. 

Rod lifted a hand in a beckoning motion, making the crowd part and through the opening marched three figures. Two dressed in the familiar guard uniform, and the one between them... 

Eren. The brunette’s expression was strangely blank, but his face was washed of all color. That was the only sign of the young halfling’s distress over what was occurring.

“Eren Yeager, this is your special day, and this is your meal.” The titan king explained, voice drawling like this was some kind of honor. But both the human and Eren knew the truth, that after this, the halfling’s own life or will would probably be forfeit. Levi let his eyes flicker about the rest of the crowd, looking for either the two tone haired boy or the blond, Jean and Armin those were their names. However, after scanning, there seemed to be no sign of either of them. 

Maybe they didn’t want to see what was about to happen, though Jean seemed to have no sympathy towards humans, Armin at least showed more curiosity and empathy towards his friend’s plight. 

Grey blue eyes found themselves meeting wide blue green ones of Eren, the teen looked exhausted, but at the same time there seemed to be a light of determination in them. Determination to do what, Levi had no clue as he finally forced himself to listen to the long winded speech that the potbellied Rod continued to spout. Ugh that was it, ignoring his aching throat, the lance corporal called out, “Hell, Reiss, get fucking on with it. If I have to listen to one more minute of the words you’re spewing out of your ass, I’m going to die of boredom or old age.” 

The king sputtered and Eren’s eyes warmed slightly and there was a tug at his lips, but it was squashed down quickly enough when Rod rounded on him, “Since our guest of honor is so impatient, let’s begin. Eren you know what to do.”

However, nothing happened, Eren made no move and the silence about the cavern was almost deafening. But as the seconds continued to tick by, the older titans started to get restless, whispering between each other as the brunette continued to stand there, and not moving a muscle. Only letting his gaze flicker between the king and the bound human. Levi was so confused, what was the brat trying to do now?

“It’s alright everyone, this is a big event, I’m sure that it's only his nerves getting the better of him. Here Eren, we’ll make it easy for you,” Rod hushed the crowd, giving a small nod to one of the guards as the rest of the titans started to back away, obviously making room for whatever happened next. “We’ll make the first cut for you.” Then the guard drew a knife, grabbing the younger man’s left hand and dragging the blade across the tanned flesh, red instantly springing forth and starting to drip onto the white stone of the cavern. Bloodshed, was this a hint that Eren was trying to give him, that to take the ancestral form blood had to be spilled? 

If it was a clue, like fuck it was of any use at this point in time or possibly ever to Levi.

It felt like the world had suddenly decided to put on the fucking breaks, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as the human watched Eren’s eyes close as steam rose from the wound on his hand, trying to mend the damage. Then there was a sound, one that was a mixture between the boom of a canon and the crack of thunder. A light emanated from the brunette that was so bright that it made Levi’s eyes water, but he refused to look away from the sickening transformation take place for him.

Skin was practically burning off as intense waves of heat and steam rolled off of the frame that was rapidly growing larger with each passing second. Muscles bulging and re-knitting themselves back together before being covered with new, slightly darker, skin. Soon the titan was standing at an impressive fifteen meters in height, standing easily in the cavern and still not coming even close to its ceiling. Eren’s hair had also grown longer and darker, now long enough to graze his shoulders. Ears had become larger and elongated, ending in a point, they reminded Levi of stories of how elves were supposed to look. His nose had become more hook shaped and his bright eyes were now glowing from their sunken-in homes in the other’s skull. It was the other’s mouth that was the most disturbing feature however; as there were no lips or flesh on the sharp cheeks, revealing all the jagged teeth that the powerful, doubled jointed, jaws held.

What the hell, kid? This was not at all what Levi had been expecting as he took in the monster. Desperately he looked for some kind of intelligence shinning inside of those huge orbs. However, he was too far away to tell. Then that large hand was reaching down for him. Oh holy Maria, this was so messed up, he was about to become the meal of the only creature that had shown kindness towards him for the entire period of his imprisonment. He wanted to fight back, and if he wasn’t bound, he sure as hell would have.

Then, Levi’s heart sunk, what would fighting even do in this situation? 

Even if Eren was back in his normal form, there was no chance in hell that Levi would have been able to fight him off in his weak and sick state. He wasn’t of any use to anyone, he wouldn’t be able to get the information back to the Corps, and he wouldn’t be the savior to humanity or keep his promises to the fallen. He wasn’t going to protect the halfling either. For the first time in years, Levi felt… too tired to go on.

One large hand wrapped around the small form, the heat coming off of Eren’s flesh almost shearing hot and easily penetrating past his torn up excuse for his uniform. He was lifted higher and higher, and Levi was honestly grateful as fuck for the fact that the chains broke before his wrists did, though the metal did bite tight into his skin and cause it to leak a new torrent of blood. Maybe if he was lucky he would bleed out before he was swallowed or chewed up alive.

Fuck, his head was spinning and vision was now blurry as he tried to focus on the bright glowing eyes of the titan. Face to face with the monster the young man had become. Despite coming to terms with the fact that he was going to die, the human’s heart continued to pound in his chest. Was this really the end? His lips were dry and cracked, forcing himself to speak as the titan’s nostrils flared at the smell of his prey’s blood, “Eren… Sorry I fell short of your expectations.”   
After all, he had to have in Eren’s eyes, Levi wasn’t an unstoppable hero, his image was tarnished with the blood of his own kind not just that of titans, and he… had given up. Levi’s own existence was now something that would damn Eren to meet his own death. 

There was a flash of light that moved across the titan’s large eyes, however, Levi was only lifted higher, until he was dangling above Eren’s head, the jaws gaping open and tongue waiting below like the most disgusting welcome mat the human had even seen. Then the hand opened and the raven was falling down, the sensation honestly felt like it might last forever, then his back landed on the other’s tongue with a splat, the hot saliva instantly soaking the human’s clothing. However, instead of being mashed to pieces by teeth or sliding down the throat, the back of the titan’s elongated tongue slid backwards to block the entrance of the esophagus. Thus, trapping Levi inside the dangerous maw.

It was dim, light and muffled sounds being all around Levi and as he tried to get his brain to focus, it sounded like yelling, roaring, and screaming, but it also seemed to be so very distance. Then Eren roared, Levi couldn’t even try to cover his ears because of the shackles still tight around his wrist. His ears and skull seemed to be ringing, the pain of his eardrums possibly being blown out was one of the most intense he had ever felt, and he had experienced a lot of pain in his life! The roar, or at least what he had heard, sounded like something akin to a word or command, but the language was one that he did not know.

Then the world was shifting and jerking, Levi being plunged into darkness as the titan’s jaws closed fully. Eren was running, that had to be the answer to his world tilting and swaying so haphazardly. He was running away, probably departing with a very loud ‘fuck you’ to the rest of the titans. The last thought that Levi’s fever addled brain managed to spit out was...

‘Not bad.’

….

It had been hours of running, sprinting, and tearing through the plains and forests, attempting to not leave a trail, however, it was hard not to when part of a group with two fifteen meter tall titans in it and another that was twelve meters tall. They would have continued on, but they didn’t want to break past the tree line and be in sight of the walls. Also, Levi needed to be tended to, Eren’s heart was in knots in fear that the human might still pass even when after the daring escape.

It was all because of dumb luck. Well maybe not dumb luck, the brunette was still shocked and confused about how it all went down himself. Now they were resting and figuring out their next move, honestly, Eren was surprised to see that Jean was sitting on the tree limb above him, scowl on his face, but very much with them. Mikasa sat on a branch to his right and Armin sat on one to his left, they were determined to come along, Mikasa having had backed the brunette into a corner to explain his sudden calmness as the human’s execution got closer. She had squeezed him for information until he cracked, revealing his theory about his own approaching death from the whispers in the halls. The dark haired young woman almost dragged the other out of the mountain and went on the run right then. Only Armin could manage to calm them both down enough to develop a possible escape plan. Eren refusing to leave the human to his fate. It had been a lot of screaming, crying, and frustration between the trio. 

It almost ended in tragedy, not that Eren had known at the time. Armin and Mikasa reported to the role-call in the ceremony chamber, but after it was completed, they tried to slip out before everything began. Only to be caught by Jean who was serving as a guard, out of all of them, Jean had the least feelings towards humans. However, as the plan was revealed and Mikasa and Armin’s tears tugged at his heart, he cracked. 

Having to make the decision to abandon his home... Eren was sure that Jean was regretting his decision as the two tone haired boy stared up towards the waxing moon peeking through the branches. 

Jean’s inner turmoil wasn’t Eren’s concern though, instead he looked back down at the unconscious human whose head was in his lap. The rest of his too thin frame was laying on the wide branch. They had managed to force some water down Levi’s throat earlier, but he still hadn’t woken up since the ceremony. Gently the brunette worked his figures through the man’s now dry hair, knowing that he probably would be cursing Eren out later for the stunt he pulled and drenching him in drool. In the short time he had known the lance corporal he had learned quickly that he had a thing for cleanliness. The disgusting cell must have been absolute torture for him. 

The steady rise and fall of the other’s chest was just enough for Eren to think that this was all worth it. But the raspy sound of his breathing and the too hot temperature coming from the other was a concern. They needed to get Levi medical attention, but just approaching the gates didn’t sound like the best idea. They didn't know how to treat a human or deal with this... whatever it was, the symptoms that the other was showing confused all of them. They needed to get past the walls as soon as possible, before the rest of the titans showed up or roamers did. What to do?

The silence between the group continued to stretch on before Armin finally broke it, “We need to wake him up.” The growl from Eren in response came almost instantly and made the other's blue eyes roll slightly before giving a firm look towards his friend, which shut him up. While Armin might be the youngest of the trio and the only one that did not have an ancestral form yet, he was still one of the most respected, being resourceful, a quick thinker, honest, and one of the most determined individuals that any of them had ever met. Right now, with no other direction, it was the blond that was calling the shots.

There was no other option and reluctantly Eren gently shook the man’s shoulder, heart easing just slightly as he watched those blue grey eyes open up, shinning slightly in the moonlight. First the man’s eyes narrowed, trying to adjust to the darkness and then his nose scrunched up in confusion and probably pain from all he had been through. Thankfully they had managed to get the metal collar and shackles off earlier, finally allowing the man free movement for the first time in weeks. 

“How are you fee-,” Eren’s questions were cut off when Armin leaned over the branch to get into the human’s line of sight, “Levi, we need to move quickly. We need to get you treatment and on the other side of the walls, we are by the southern gate. What is the best way for us not to get attacked?”

Slowly Levi forced himself to sit up easily keeping his balance no matter how exhausted he was and how each and every one of his joints popped in protest. He ignored Eren’s attempts to keep him down, instead drawling out, tongue feeling too thick for his dry mouth, “You want me to allow," His eyes flickered about the group, “four titans to come inside the walls? I already know that there are at least three of them already in there. How do I know you aren't looking for a buffet?”

That stung; it really did. It hurt Eren so much to realize that the human still didn’t trust him as much as he hoped. Still he admired him for still putting humanity over his own survival. 

“I understand we are asking a lot of you and you do not trust us, but we just abandoned our lives in exchange for yours and Eren’s.” A female voice, unfamiliar and startlingly cool brought Levi’s eyes to the girl, this must be the famous Mikasa that Armin and Eren always mentioned to be their lookout. “I honestly couldn’t care what happens to you or humanity, all that matters to me is Eren’s survival and happiness, and if you living makes him happy… Then I’ll secure it with my life.” 

“Mikasa,” Eren’s expression was embarrassed, but grateful. He didn’t expect anything less from the girl that had practically become like a sister to him, apparently his father had helped her out of a tight spot in the past. Raising her on the side when he was with the titans after her parents died in a cave-in inside the mountain. From that had borne a sense loyalty towards Grisha and, in extension, his family. She could be a rather cold and stoic individual, but she had a good heart. Then again, when Eren thought about it, she and Levi had a lot in common with their personalities.

“I don’t have really any personal feelings towards the royal order of our kind, my parents wanted to explore the world and escape from the eyes of the higher ups. They left many years ago and I have no idea what happened to them, I was raised by my grandfather, but he also passed away, constantly longing to have joined my parents in their journey and taking me along.” Armin’s hand clenched around the branch with obvious frustration towards himself, “I’m a coward, I never thought I could leave on my own, I still don’t think I could. I want to see the world and learn about humans, but also be with my friends. This is the only way I can see that happening. Eren and Mikasa have become my family. I’ll stand with them and,” He ignored Jean’s look of disbelief, “I’ll obey you, lance corporal Levi.”

Despite himself, Levi felt himself go slack jawed at the declaration, turning his head towards Eren as the young halfling picked up where the blond left off, “It was an agreement we made beforehand, our lives with the other titans are obviously over until either humanity or the war comes to an end. So… Mikasa, Armin and I, swear to be YOUR soldiers, Levi. We’ll listen to you, but only you.”

Levi wondered if his brain was so fever eaten that he was hearing things. Did he really have three titans now under his control? 

This war really did just change; however, they still needed to get inside the walls, out and capture the traitors, and convince humanity to trust their newest weapons. 

There was still one question though; grey blue eyes flickered tiredly towards the scowling form above him. What about this titan known as Jean?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, I've been really busy lately and looking for balance but I'm not giving up on writing any of my works so just stick around.
> 
> If you liked it please comment, it makes my day~


	7. Knock Knock

“Oi, you there, where do you fall in all this? You’ve obviously been branded a traitor as well,” Levi voice was hard, but hoarse as he took the canteen that Armin offered him with the faintest of nods as he kept his gaze on the youth sitting above him. He had to figure out how to control this one wild cannon, he hadn’t seen this titan since that encounter of discovering Eren and Levi’s visits. That first introduction hadn’t exactly painted a very appealing picture for the solider as Jean obviously cared little about humanity’s suffering and plight. The corporal remember briefly that Eren had told him that he and Armin were the youngest of the titans at the moment and that they hadn’t received their big ugly hulking forms yet. Though that obviously changed now in Eren’s case. Still that meant that the girl, Mikasa, and Jean did, which also meant that they might have eaten humans in the past. Levi’s lips pursed slightly, it was probably for the best he nor the other humans found out the answer to that question. 

What other option did Jean have, returning to the mountain and the titans without the traitors would mean that he would be put to death or be turned into a roamer, just imaging that fate of being a mindless monster that only wanted to devour or do the bidding of whatever purpose the king instilled into his mind. It made the tall youth feel sick and a harsh shudder to roll up and down his spine. However, going with the human and the trio behind the walls? To fight against the rest of their kind, a harsh, dry chuckle left Jean’s lips as he looked back up towards the moon, “Fuck, either way it’s suicide isn’t it?”

Then a thought went through Jean’s mind, or more accurately it was three faces, the trio of titans already inside the walls. They would be killed and tortured with even more certainty than them because at least two of them were the cause of thousands upon thousands of human deaths with the fall of wall Maria. Levi apparently knew who these titans were and would tell the rest of the military as soon as possible. He ran a hand along the back of his head feeling the shorter hairs of the undercut, this was going to be a long shot but it was the only thing he could ask for, “I will give you my obedience along with Mikasa, Eren, and Armin’s, if in exchange you will do what you can to ensure the three titans already in the walls…. live.” 

Honestly, Eren was surprised, he hadn’t imagined that Jean would offer himself in exchange for something that wasn’t well… selfish. That might sound a little harsh, but in all the time that the brunet had known the long faced male he had never done anything for anyone else. While Jean had decided to keep his and Levi’s interactions a secret and had told Eren of the execution. Eren had been sure that he had only done so to be on Mikasa’s good side, his crush on her was still painful to watch. Sure, Jean might be getting into the walls and possibly escaping the retribution of the royal family and titans. He wasn't, however, able to ask for their safety, no, he could only ask for their lives.

Blue grey eyes narrowed at the request, he wanted to fucking tear those three traitors apart himself and listen to their dying wails. It would be a hazard to keep those three alive, particularly once people found out two of them were the cause of all the death and suffering all those years ago. Still, there was an obvious loophole that Jean was leaving for Levi and the rest of humanity. He only asked for them to not be snuffed out, nothing about torture or experimentation. ‘Hanji’s going to have a heyday.’ The corporal thought to himself as his fever addled mind imagined the odd woman already foaming at the mouth in excitement. 

Okay, shit, this was the best for all of them actually. She could experiment and examine the traitors to her heart's content and leave Levi's titans alone. 'His titans' it was such a strange fucking thought, but he found himself accepting it with surprising grace. Still there was the chance that Levi might not be allowed to keep custody of the four titans once they entered the walls. They would just have to cross that bridge when they got to it, after all, Levi knew that he was running out of time… And very quickly. It was a struggle to cling onto consciousness as it was at the moment and he still needed to pass on some important messages and get them… in.

The thought gave him pause, he was actually going back into the walls, back in the pen that humanity was trapped in. Did he have to go back? The answer was no, he could try to convince the titans to take him and run away from both forces, go explore the world and live freely. However, he knew that it wouldn’t be true freedom, not with him abandoning the rest of his friends and the memories of his fallen comrades resting on his mind.

No, he would liberate all of humanity from not being able to see the horizon unhindered. With these strange new tools at his side, the tide of this war had really changed. Taking a strained breath, Levi finally nodded towards the tallest titan in the group, “We have a deal, I’ll do what I can to secure their survival if it is in my power. That’s all I can do.”

Jean gave his assent; he knew the human had a limited amount of power over the actions of the rest of his kind. Apparently strength wasn’t the main source of power and rule for humanity like it was for titans.

“As for getting inside,” Levi drawled, damn he could barely keep his words from slurring together, the slightest of smirks still came to his face as he continued though, “Guess we have to go and fucking knock on the front door.” Or back door since they were on the south side.

“What?!” Came the expected response, but Levi only scored a three out of four for this ludicrous statement. No Armin’s eyebrows only pinched together before he nodded to himself, “No, I guess that makes sense, it would cause too much of a scene if three titans just came walking over and shifted before the gate. That would make word spread fast and be too hard to contain with so many eyes watching from the top of the walls. That would also make it easy for,” He swallowed hard as he knew he might be prepping the nails for the coffins of his old friends, “the trio to get word and make an escape attempt.” 

“I know who the bastards are that jumped me, that’s your three. I know the two that are in the Corp’s names, who’s the small blond bitch?” There was another little bit of information he needed to know as well, “How do you catch a titan and not let them shift?” 

Mikasa was the one that answered this question, noting from the corner of her eyes the way Armin’s head fell as the name left her lips, “Annie Leonhart, we only shift if we cause damage to ourselves, the simplest cut can trigger it, as long as it is made by our will. I know she at least carries a ring that can slice her, the others might have something similar. Best way would be to catch them off guard and keep them deep underground so it would be impossible to shift without possibly killing each other.” 

So they would need to jump them in a way that completely incapacitated them in an instant, also catch them by surprise so they couldn’t make a move to prepare for a transformation. With some of the skilled members of the Corps Levi was sure that it could be done. “Will the roamers smell and come after us in the piss walk to the gate?” 

“Well, you’re covered in Eren’s scent right now from the escape attempt so they shouldn’t be able to smell you and they should ignore us since roamers have no interest in other titans,” Armin answered, hiding his amusement at the disgusted look that came to the human’s face and the one of embarrassment from his friend’s. He was pretty sure that if Levi was any lesser of a man he would appear to be outright mortified at the fact that he was covered in monster drool. But if it saved the corporal’s life, he really shouldn’t complain too much. 

“Let’s just get this over with already,” Jean groaned out as he swung his legs over the side of his branch and just let himself fall the five meters to the ground, a rush of steam escaped from his knees and feet. Otherwise he seemed to be completely unharmed as he stalked closer to the tree line. There was a look of nervousness under all the bravo though, Levi had seen it all too often in new and even old recruits that tried to act like tough shit while internally they were shitting their pants. 

“Someone is going to have to carry the corporal, Eren you’re in no condition to do it. You’re exhausted after your first transformation, don’t try to lie.” The blond stated, powering right through when Eren tried to open his mouth, at least Levi didn’t try to argue you about being aided. That man at least seemed to know his limits. Blue eyes moved over to Jean before thinking better of it and nodding to Mikasa whom silently slung one of the human’s arms over her neck and lifted him before dropping down to the ground below. To his credit, despite how bashed up he was, Levi only gritted his teeth from the jerk of the fall. A few seconds later Armin and Eren joined them, the blond barely managing to catch the brunet when he suddenly faltered when he tried to step forward, “I told you! You’re in bad shape too because of the shift. Jean, please come over here and help support him. I’ll keep on the lookout.”

The taller titan grumbled, but obeyed as he wrapped one arm around Eren’s waist and slinging one of the younger’s arm around his neck to hopefully get him to walk or just stagger along. Honestly, Levi wasn’t bothered by the fact that he was being carried by a young woman, what did he care as long as it got the job done and he finally received some fucking treatment. Honestly, gender stereotype can give a blowjob to a rusty ice pick in his opinion. 

The trek across the open plains towards the walls was utterly silent, all eyes glancing between the tops of the walls where the faint yellow orange light of the bonfires for the members of the Garrison to see by sat. The group was small and it was unlikely for them to be spotted, even if the whole area was bare of any large trees of shrub life, no it had been blasted bare from cannon fire when titans wandered too close for comfort. During the journey Levi was left to expand upon his observations up to the moment of this odd quartet of titans. 

Armin was obviously the one calling the shots, his intellect was advance and he was the only one that didn’t have an ancestral form, being the youngest. Mikasa was quiet, calculating, and motivated by the words of either Armin or Eren. Jean was cautious, held no fond feelings for humans at the moment, but here in the form of a suicide pact with no other choice. Then there was Eren, still pretty hot headed and emotional, but knew when to shut his mouth. Could he really control all of them? Well, he had to, to do that he’d have to train them and get to know them, like he had done with his team. Hopefully they would get used to their new members soon. 

It felt like a cold rock had fallen into the pit of Levi’s stomach as he wondered just what had happened inside of the walls since his disappearance. What kind of mess could he be walking into? Well he was going to have to find out as they finally stopped in front of the massive gate, the human having to point out the smaller wooden door built into the structure for people to pass through if the situation called for it. 

“How do we get their attention?” Jean mused aloud, his nose scrunching slightly as the scent of humans was already almost overwhelming from this side. How did the trio live like this for years and not snap? Then again they were known for being the most self-controlled. 

“Knock, eventually someone should come to check it out, I’ll whistle the signal too. See if that gets the drunks off their asses,” Levi’s answer came in a soft voice, his head and body were aching terribly but he still forced the high pitched sound from his lips that made all four of the titans flinch. It was probably pretty shrill sounding to them. 

After a few moments of hesitation, it was Armin that finally moved forward to rapt his fist as loudly as he could on the wood. When no one came, the blond did it again, along with the human giving another whistle that made hushed voices erupt. While Levi was unable to pick it up, the four youths were able to hear the murmuring of confusion and nervousness. Then, Armin almost covered his nose as the scent of fear assaulted him as there was the sound of clattering on the other side. The humans were terrified, probably imagining that there was a monstrous titan on the other side ready to grab and devour them piece by piece. Well, honestly it wasn’t too far from the truth if it was under any other circumstance. 

A few seconds later the small window built into the door slid to the side, wide eyes taking in the sight before him as a lantern was lifted higher to shine out of the opening. Four teenagers dressed in fancy clothing and… the Lance Corporal, covered in blood, bruises, and being carried by someone. Levi was very aware of how he looked, and his glare silenced whatever the man was about to say, even with the wood in the way, the raven knew that the other’s trap was opening and closing like a gasping fish, “Shut up, open the damn door and let us in. Then call for Erwin, Hanji, and Mike, tell them to ride in a carriage to pick me up. Be silent about this.”

The way the man’s eyes bobbed up and down clearly showed he was nodding, not daring to talk back to humanity’s strongest solider. The door was cracked open and a few other men were waved closer, surprisingly they were sober ones. Armin slid through the crack first, moving to the side to let Jean, Eren, and then finally Mikasa and Levi through. 

The blond, mustached man floundered for what he should do as the others moved to summon the Survey Corps, “Umm sir, wha-“ 

“Did I tell you to talk? I’m not speaking to anyone other than my superior about what happened. You’ll be told later if it fucking concerns you,” came the snappy answer that made the other human stand up straighter, Eren could hear the guy swallow nervously and couldn’t help but smirk into Jean’s shoulder so it wouldn’t be seen. Damn, it appeared that Levi really wasn’t a joke around here and that his word was basically law. Still the fact that there was someone above the small keg of gunpowder was interesting, and honestly, a bit terrifying and intimidating. 

And so, they stood there, Mikasa was straight-faced, Jean was glaring at any human that met eyes with him, Eren was sluggishly leaning against Jean but his wide eyes were darting about, trying to take in everything and anything in the lantern light and beyond. Armin was much the same as his friend, but standing ram rod straight and hands folded behind his back. The blond was almost vibrating with excitement and his light blue eyes were almost eerie as he’d focus on one persona and then to the next. 

It was much to the chagrin of the gathered Garrison members that desperately wanted to know what was going on, but wisely keeping their mouths such. They didn’t like that a strange girl was holding onto such a hero, but none dared to offer to take her stead. The man in question had his eyes shut and his breathing was still scratchy sounding and labored as he focused on saving his energy for what was to come.

One eye did crack open however when he heard Armin’s voice, the blond having started to approach the man that had opened the door for them. The lance corporal’s voice was firm, but soft, leaving no room for argument, “Armin, no. Get your ass back over here and wait.” 

The blond hesitated, but bowed his head finally and returned to Mikasa’s side. They were to be used as Levi saw fit, they swore that. It certainly wouldn’t do well to start disobeying him now, especially while in front of so many military members that knew exactly how to kill a titan. Levi had learned from his encounter long ago in the throne room that crushing the neck still killed them even if they were in their smaller forms. 

It took about thirty minutes, but finally the sound of hooves and carriage wheels clattered down the street towards them. The door of the vehicle was flying open before it even came to a full stop as a brown blur raced out of it and straight towards Levi. Mikasa stiffened a sound not unlike a growl starting in her chest, but a soft drumming on her shoulder from Levi told her to relax as the shape turned out to be a female human. She was gasping and huffing for breath as she took in Levi’s condition, biting her lower lip in concern as she muttered, “By the goddesses, what the hell happened to you?” 

Before she could get her answer another voice rang out from the carriage, the titans unable to see the source from the angle of the door and seats, “Hanji, let’s get Levi somewhere he can explain and get him some treatment, Commander Pixis is coming down here to do any damage control and will meet with us later.” There was a small pause before the male voice continued, “I’m guessing our four guests will be joining us as well.”

“You’re a fuckin’ genius,” Levi answered sarcastically as he motioned for the titans to go to the carriage. They all looked far from pleased at the contraption, obviously they had never ridden in one before as Hanji had to take Armin’s hand to help him inside. It was a cramped fit, but somehow it was managed, though Levi was laid gently on the floor of the carriage to make him as comfortable as possible even if he bitched about it being dirty. 

Eren took in the faces of the two men that were already in the carriage, one tall with a broad nose, facial hair, and darker blond hair than the man next to him. The other was the man who seemed to be the one calling the shots, his blue eyes analyzing the group before him and mouth set in a small frown as his bushy brows furrowed in confusion and thought. But there was affection and relief when they looked down at the small form of Levi, his voice filled with worry, “What happened to you Levi, you were missing for a month? All of the military branches were at each other’s throats trying to figure out who was to blame. Some tried to claim you went back to the underground, but I knew that couldn’t be true… And these children.”

“Children?! Hah, fuck, that’s the last thing I’d think you’d want to label them as,” Levi answered, coughing harshly in his short lived mirth. Eren started to lean forward, wide eyes shining in worry as he looked between the human he had saved and this new trio, “Please, you can heal him right? He’s,” he glanced at the other titans by his side, before continuing, “He’s been starved and not given water for a long time. I know he’s really sick.”

“And you are?” Hanji asked, the passing torchlights from outside the carriage making the goggles and glasses perched on her head flash occasionally. 

Before Eren could answer, Levi interjected, “Not important at the moment, there are three traitors we need to deal with. Two of them are members of the Survey Corps and the other is in the Military Police, they need to be captured before word of my return reaches them.” 

“Traitors,” the once silent Mike echoed, disbelief in his voice before glancing over towards the dark haired girl who hand her hands folded calmly in her lap, his nostrils flared at her even tone, “I don’t know if you could label them traitors when they were never on the side of humanity to begin with. Their names are Annie Leonhart, Reiner Braun, and Bertholdt Hoover, but you have to be very careful about apprehending them.”

"And why is that?" Erwin questioned, one brow raising in question as he looked down at Levi who had a grimace on his face as his eyes were starting to roll back in his head, giving into unconsciousness, "Because commander, you're about to go titan hunting in the wall."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the long wait... like almost two years, life has been really hectic for me. I just finished moving to Japan and have started working there. So I'll be busy, but I want to start writing again. Hope everyone enjoyed this.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still working on my other snk stories, but I had to get this story out of my head, if it gets a good response I will continue to write it.  
> I really hope you have enjoyed this little introductory first chapter to this adventure. 
> 
> If you are interested to see what happens next, please leave a comment, I'd appreciate your thoughts.


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